Republican Ashley Moody will be Florida's next attorney general.
Moody defeated Democratic state Sen. Sean Shaw by more than 500,00 votes in Tuesday's election. Moody is a former judge and federal prosecutor from the Tampa area.
Moody, a fifth-generation Floridian, will take over the position held by Republican Pam Bondi, who could not seek re-election because of term limits.
During her victory speech, Moody said she began preparing for the job years ago, starting with lessons she learned from her father, who was also a federal judge.
"The strength and resilience of our society hinges on a fair judicial system - not only a fair judicial system, but one that is perceived as fair, and I will work towards that end everyday as the Attorney General," Moody told a cheering crowd at a Tampa hotel.
In his concession speech, Shaw continued hammering not at Moody, but at President Donald Trump. The consumer insurance lawyer had said he would investigate Trump's Florida businesses' ties to Russia if he won.
"Democrats around Florida, we're going to figure this out. The time is not to (say), 'We lost and we're upset and we came so close and we're heartbroken.' That's not the response," said Shaw. "Because that man is still in the White House and our country's in danger."
Throughout the campaign and all the way up through Election Day, both candidates highlighted their differences -- in Moody's case, it was about their work experience.
"I am the only candidate that has prosecuted a case running to be the top prosecutor in the state of Florida," Moody repeated to reporters again earlier Tuesday.
"This is about issues," Shaw said in Tampa, shortly before the polls closed in Florida's Panhandle. "And this is about the historical change in terms of how you address those issues from the Attorney General's office.
"Do you want someone whose going to address them and be a fighter and be head-on and aggressive about them or do you want the same old kind of thing you've always gotten, someone that's just a rubber stamp to whatever the Republicans want?" he said, adding, "That's what's on the ballot."
There was one down note for the Moody family Tuesday - her brother Jamey lost in his bid to become a Hillsborough Circuit Court judge.
